Englands best bowling attack.

[TT Boy]

But on the other hand when he did bowl last year, there was nothing to suggest that injury had taken toll on the quality of his bowling.

Kabir Ali did most of the dog-work for Worcestershire (was the unsung hero for mine) whilst Jones got a fair chunk of his wickets against the lower order and as Aussie alluded to, county division 2 cricket really is the pits. I saw two versions of Jones last year one was rapid and the other was bowling off a few steps.

I think England made the right decision to overlook him for selection at Headingley not that Darren Pattinson was the right one of course.

 

[Uppercut]

Yeah, probably. I saw him just twice but both times he looked as good as ever.

The point I was making is that i don't think there's a concern that he'll get fit but be a crap bowler when he returns- just that he'll never get fully fit ever again.

 

[aussie]

If Rashid could average even just 25 with the bat and 32 with the ball over his test career he would be an excellent player for England. That his potential is considered by many to be higher than that is why everyone gets excited, but don't underestimate the value of just having a solid spinner who can bat well. Would everyone be complaining as much about Monty's place in the team over the last 6 months if he was a decent fielder and batting at 8 and making test match fifties?

Word...

 

[grecian]

Hmm, perhaps we should start a thread about our batting, as on todays shambolic show of craptitude, it may be the bigger problem......

 

[Woodster]

Harmison's pace is a worry to me. Admittedly this track offered his style of bowler very little in terms of pace and quick bounce, but would still like to see him bounding in and delivering it in the high 80's rather than the low 80's.

He's a strike bowler, the kind to bowl aggressively, bang it in short of a length. At the minute we're just getting slightly quicker than medium pace (not that I'd like to face him) reasonably accurate spells, which imo is not why he's selected.

 

[wpdavid]

Harmison's pace is a worry to me. Admittedly this track offered his style of bowler very little in terms of pace and quick bounce, but would still like to see him bounding in and delivering it in the high 80's rather than the low 80's.

He's a strike bowler, the kind to bowl aggressively, bang it in short of a length. At the minute we're just getting slightly quicker than medium pace (not that I'd like to face him) reasonably accurate spells, which imo is not why he's selected.

I think the idea that quicks couldn't be expected to do a thing on this pitch was somewhat exposed this afternoon. Beyond that, surely it's not unreasonable to expect Harmy to send down 2 or 3 fast yorkers per over, so the pitch wouldn't be an issue.

btw what did you make of suggestions that he is carrying a few too many kilos?

 

[Jigga988]

Harmison's pace is a worry to me. Admittedly this track offered his style of bowler very little in terms of pace and quick bounce, but would still like to see him bounding in and delivering it in the high 80's rather than the low 80's.

He's a strike bowler, the kind to bowl aggressively, bang it in short of a length. At the minute we're just getting slightly quicker than medium pace (not that I'd like to face him) reasonably accurate spells, which imo is not why he's selected.

nature of the pitch and heat. Flintoff was the strongest out of any bowler on show regarding pace, everyone else was around the 85mph mark at best.

 

[Woodster]

I think the idea that quicks couldn't be expected to do a thing on this pitch was somewhat exposed this afternoon. Beyond that, surely it's not unreasonable to expect Harmy to send down 2 or 3 fast yorkers per over, so the pitch wouldn't be an issue.

btw what did you make of suggestions that he is carrying a few too many kilos?

Yes yorkers are missing from a lot of bowlers like Harmy's armoury. The smaller skiddier types like Taylor, Malinga, Shoaib (although not for some time) use it so effectively.

If any style of quick bowler was to be successful on this track, someone like Taylor would have been up there. He bowls full, straight, with a hint of movement. Harmison's natural back of a length was obviously going to cause fewer problems in Jamaica.

Carrying too many kilos ? Perhaps he is a bigger man than his early days, which appears to be the way in these modern times, see South Africa. Although I'm not sure that is the root cause of his lack of intimidating pace. So frequently he has failed to replicate the kind of speeds that made him such a threatening bowler.

 

[Woodster]

nature of the pitch and heat. Flintoff was the strongest out of any bowler on show regarding pace, everyone else was around the 85mph mark at best.

But it's not just based on this Test. In recent series he has not delivered spells up and around the 90's. I know it's important he finds his rhythm and it cartainly won't be a lack of effort, but something is amiss. His rhythm seems a constant problem. They say he needs plenty of overs under his belt to find his groove, which was why he was so effective in the County Championship last season, but he needs to do all he can to ensure he hits the ground at the beginning of Test series running!

 

[Uppercut]

Hmm, perhaps we should start a thread about our batting, as on todays shambolic show of craptitude, it may be the bigger problem......

Certainly IMO.

 

[Burgey]

SF Barnes
Larwood
Trueman
Botham
Underwood.

If they were all back and fit, they'd be my picks

 

[Athlai]

When was the last time if ever have England actually fielded their 'best bowling attack'.

 

[aussie]

When was the last time if ever have England actually fielded their 'best bowling attack'.

4th Ashes test 05.